3/27/24: Daily Post

Yesterday, I commuted down to Socorro on the train and the shuttle. Along the way, I did some work against an Upwork contract and took a brief nap on the shuttle.

Once I arrived at NMT, I started out the day by running around and doing some inventory checking. I still have more of this to do today, unfortunately.

I had lunch with my brother. It was good to catch up with him.

In the afternoon, I taught instrumentation lab. This time around, it was really frustrating. I am going to have to rework some of this course for next semester.

In the evening, I commuted home and then met JoAnna at Tucano’s for a day-late anniversary dinner. This had been our plan all along, (I didn’t forget). We had a nice time there, though this time around, they had very few steaks, which was surprising.

Thank you for reading my post.

2/21/24: Daily Post

Yesterday, I spent the bulk of the day at NMT. I commuted down and worked around the labs all morning. I wish I had gotten more accomplished, but that seems to be my theme this…life.

Just before lunch, I had a meeting with an Upwork client and I will get started on some work with them. Unrelated to that contract, I received another Upwork offer, so I will start on that one as soon as the supplies arrive at my house.

I had lunch with my brother and chatted with him until it was almost time to teach instrumentation lab.

In the afternoon, I taught instrumentation and then finished up a few more things around the lab.

My commutes were uneventful. I knocked out a little work against an Upwork project.

In the evening, I had a Varsity Tutors appointment and then fell asleep in my chair. Annoyingly, I was 14 steps short of my 10,000 step goal. I can’t believe I didn’t get them.

Thank you for reading my post.

2/7/24: Daily Post

Yesterday, I spent the day working at NMT. I didn’t get nearly as much done as I needed to, but I did get some old LabVIEW code working on a computer that is connected to a serial port scale. That had been on my list for a while. I also taught a section of instrumentation lab. I helped out the process control lab, as they accidentally made a heater glow red hot instead of following the instructions.

Outside of NMT, I also knocked out an Upwork project. I had lunch with my brother as well.

In the evening, I hosted a Varsity Tutors session and finished packing for my trip to Florida.

Thank you for reading my post.

1/16/24, 1/17/24: Daily Posts

On Tuesday, I spent the day at Magdalena. There wasn’t much excitement. I tutored most of the day and then turned in two articles for clients. By the evening, I was not feeling great. I decided to skip going to the gym (which was just as well- my gym clothes were in a different car).

Yesterday was my first day back at NMT. I spent the day doing some of the lab inspections and setting up for the first instrumentation lab of the semester. About half way through the lab, I had about lost my voice. As soon as lab ended, I rested for a few minutes, and then took the bus and train home. I went to bed as soon as I got home, and then woke up for a few minutes just before midnight when the fever broke.

Thank you for reading my post.

11/10/23: Daily Post

Yesterday, I did not get done nearly what needed to be accomplished. I was able to finish up some content for a client, but I need feedback on how to proceed for the rest of that project.

There was no shuttle yesterday, so I had to drive to Socorro. They celebrated Veteran’s Day on Friday. Because there was no shuttle, my writing got cut into a little bit. I was able to finish up my NaNoWriMo for the day, however.

I taught Graduate Seminar and then Instrumentation lab. That finished out the week me. I only have one more session of each of those this semester.

I also started working on a LabVIEW course for a client. I have a long ways to go with that one.

Thank you for reading my post.

11/3/23: Daily Post

Yesterday, I split the day between Magdalena and Socorro. I started the day by commuting to Magdalena to tutor for a few hours, and then went back to NMT.

There is typically no school at Magdalena on Fridays. However, at the start of this school year, there was a major power outage that canceled school for a week. Because of this, the week’s worth of school days were spread out among a bunch of Fridays, and this Friday happened to be one of them. I went in and tutored in the morning.

In the afternoon, I taught instrumentation lab. I accidentally screwed up my class schedule, and so I cancelled one class but not the other. We didn’t have graduate seminar, but we did have instrumentation lab. Next year, I’ll have to make sure not to do this.

In the evening, I shot for a few minutes at Calibers and then headed home for the evening.

Thank you for reading my post.

10/11/23: Daily Post

Yesterday, I spent the whole day in Socorro. I attended a department meeting and worked on a few things for my instrumentation lab. I have a new lecture, homework and lab put together, so hopefully, that will be fun for the students. I’ve had a good time learning about ladder logic, and I hope they will as well. I also helped out with Unit Operations lab.

Outside of NMT, I completed one article for a client and did some other miscellaneous writing.

I was planning on going to the gym, but I’m fighting a cold. I hate that I’ve already had two bad colds this year. This is stupid. I miss the old days where I worked in six schools and took a sick day once every five years or so.

Thank you for reading my post.

9/1/23: Daily Post

Yesterday, I spent the day in Socorro. I got a few things done around the department before I taught two classes. I taught graduate seminar, where we had a guest speaker who was a former student of mine, and I taught my first section of instrumentation lab this semester.

Instrumentation lab went okay, but the soldering lab is always difficult. It doesn’t matter what I do, I can never get all of the soldering irons to heat hot enough to actually make the solder flow. I’ve tried buying new irons, adding flux, using different solder compositions and so on. A few people get the soldering right, but most do not.

In the evening, I commuted home and did nothing worthwhile along my commute. I should have written another article, but I didn’t.

Thank you for reading my post.

3/28/23: Daily Post

Yesterday, I spent the day at NMT. I got off to a little bit of a late start, but made it down to NMT with supplies for the next few days. I’ll spend two days in Socorro and then Thursday-Saturday in Las Cruces, so I brought food and clothes and other projects with me.

Half of the day was spent working on Chemical Engineering things. I did a bunch of lab inspections, safety shower tests and other such errands. I also taught a section of instrumentation lab and another of amateur radio licensure.

The other half of the day was spent making some major progress against an Upwork contract. I am starting to get caught up on a few things in Upwork, though I still have quite a bit to do.

Thank you for reading my post.

2/7/23: Daily Post

Yesterday, I spent the day in Socorro. At NMT, I worked on several projects around the chemical engineering department. Magdalena was closed due to the snow, so I spent the day on campus instead.

In the afternoon, I taught my instrumentation laboratory class. I think it went alright, though I totally forgot to do a little show and tell that I normally include with this week’s lecture.

In the evening, I commuted home and worked on a few Upwork projects. I have a major report due on Friday, but I am still getting information about it from the client, so I don’t know how complete it will be then. We’ll see.

Once I got off the train, I headed to Calibers and did a little shooting before returning home for the evening. I wish I had gotten more accomplished, as this week and next will be rough.

Thank you for reading my post.